The invention relates to a bag for a musical instrument, such a guitar, with a case, formed of a bottom part and a lid part with a lockable opening for inserting or removing the musical instrument. At least one carrying belt is provided on the case for shouldering the bag, with the at least one carrying belt extending between an upper end fastening point and a lower end fastening point. The section between the upper and fastening point and the associated lower and fastening point defines a load carrying section, in which the material of the case is subjected to a special stress. At least one pocket for receiving a detached carrying belt or belts is provided on the exterior of the case.
Such a bag is already known from the DE 299 06 764 U I. In the bag described there, the receiving pockets in each case extend on a line defined by the upper and lower associated fastening points. In a special embodiment, the carrying belt together with the lower fastening point, is enclosed in the accommodating pocket.
Although it is surely desirable to stow away the carrying belt or belts when not in use, the previously known solutions have some disadvantages. The arrangement of an accommodating pocket in the region between the upper and the associated lower fastening point is disadvantageous, since this section is to be regarded as a special load section for the material of the case during the transport of the musical instrument stowed in the bag. On the basis of the weight of the bag and the musical instrument alone, the tensile stress on the flexible case is particularly large at the fastening points, especially on the line between the upper and the associated lower fastening points. In addition, this load section is stressed not only especially by the weight of the forces of the bag and of the musical instrument, but also by the loads resulting from the oscillations and vibrations during transport. It, therefore, seems to be problematical to weaken this region in accordance with the state of the art by a belt receiving pocket. The pockets themselves, as well as any fasteners, such as zippers, and the like, are also exposed to unnecessary stresses in this region. Finally, the shouldered transporting of musical instruments, anyhow, is a special burden. In order to offer the greatest carrying comfort, a bag should not have any interfering devices such as a belt receiving pocket with a zipper or the like in the region, in which it comes into contact with the shoulder blades.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a bag for musical instruments, which has at least one receiving pocket for carrying belts, in such a manner in comparison with the state of the art described, that at least one of the interfering aspects named of the previously known pockets can be eliminated or at least mitigated.
This objective is accomplished in a surprisingly simple manner by a bag embodying the present invention.
A key concept of the present invention lies in that the carrying belts are equipped at least at one of their two ends with detachable fastening means and, at the same time, the receiving pocket is disposed on the exterior of the case outside of the load section. By means of this measure, the carrying comfort during the shouldered transport of the bag is increased significantly. The case is not weakened by additional devices in the load section between the upper and lower fastening points. Finally, the pocket itself is exposed to significantly fewer stresses, if it is disposed outside of this especially stressed region.
The invention is thus based on the realization of disposing the belt receiving pocket not in this specially stressed load section, but at a sufficient distance therefrom and, at the same time, fastening the carrying belts to the case at least at one of the ends with detachable fastening means, so that they can be detached at one or both ends and inserted in the pocket provided for this purpose. Here, as in the state of the art, a partial or preferably a complete, reception may be provided, so that, in the detached state, the carrying belts do not protrude or interfere.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, in each case two upper and lower fastening points are provided at a lateral distance from one another and the at least one receiving pocket is disposed in the region between the two load sections. In this region, the stresses on the material of the case are distinctly less. Moreover, in comparison to the state of the art, the at least one accommodating pocket is located further to the inside, so that the shoulder blades of the user are not affected.
In a concrete embodiment, the two pockets are parallel to one another and can be produced particularly easily. Any seams required can be produced advantageously here.
In a further preferred embodiment, two accommodating pockets are provided directly next to one another. This endows the bag for the musical instrument over all with an ergonomic character and, moreover, can also be regarded as advantageous from a manufacturing point of view.
In an alternative configuration, two or more carrying belts are provided, for which altogether one pocket is formed in the case, so that all the carrying belts required can be accommodated in a single pocket. For this embodiment, only one pocket has to be provided by the manufacturer. The handling is also simplified, since all the required carrying belts can be detached and stowed together in the common accommodating pocket.
In a further particularly preferred embodiment, the belt receiving pocket or pockets are disposed on the exterior of the lid part and the upper and lower fastening points are disposed on the exterior of the bottom part. The fastening points for the carrying belts and the associated pockets accordingly are provided on different sides of the bag for the musical instrument, so that the side, facing the back of a user carrying the bag, does not have an associated pocket. Instead, this accommodating or receiving pocket with its possibly disturbing projection is disposed on the opposite side of the case.
In accordance with a particular advantageous aspect of the present invention, the length of the accommodating pocket is such, that it is at least longer than the distance between the upper end fastening point and the associated lower end fastening point and, in particular, has at least the length of the carrying belt, which is to be stowed. By these means, the carrying belt or belts can be accommodated significantly more conveniently, since the carrying belt or belts does or do not have to be bent or rolled as much.
In accordance with a further advantageous aspect of the invention, the pockets can be closed by VELCRO(copyright) fasteners having interengaging elements. In comparison to zippers, VELCRO fasteners interfere far less when the bag is in use, especially when it is being carried.